Hi guys! My name is Aaron, and this is my first attempt at slash fiction. Let me know if you like it and if you'd like to read more. You can email me at itookherkiss@hotmail.com All comments are welcome, and I would love to hear from you.
Disclaimer: This story isn't meant to imply that any members of N Sync are gay. It isn't meant to imply that N Sync's management is a bunch of bastards either. Don't read this if you're not old enough, offended by homosexualtiy, or it's illegal for you to read this in your area.
On to chapter one.........
Lance fumbled through his belongings, tears cascading down his cheeks. He turned the TV louder, hoping that the other guys wouldn't hear him. The last thing he wanted to do was let them know how much he hurt. Tossing his CD player and some wrinkled clothes in a bag he peered around the room bleary eyed, searching for any other possessions he may have over looked. Suddenly, the image on MTV caught his attention. There was Justin, one of his best friends, mugging for the camera in the Tearin' Up My Heart video, his platinum curls plastered to his head like Ramen noodles. Lance smiled through his tears as he remembered how happy they had been that day.
"Why can't we be that happy again?" Lance asked himself, though in his heart he knew the answer. Things had gotten too complicated, they had gotten too famous, everyone suddenly had a hidden agenda; especially management.
Tears began to fall again as Lance remembered how his happiness began to unravel. It all started with the rumors.
"I wonder if the fans know how much damage they can actually do," Lance thought as he recounted the way the teenyboppers labeled him "the gay member" of N Sync. "It's their callousness that's causing this to happen. If they hadn't started the rumors I was gay; management never would have had to know it was the truth. It could have stayed between me and the guys." But when management questioned him point blank that afternoon in the office, he didn't deny his homosexuality. That's when things really hit a downward spiral.
After their meeting with Lance, management drew up some paperwork, releasing Lance from his contract as a member of N Sync. Lance would publicly say he left N Sync to assist in the development of another boyband, namely O-Town, and in return for keeping the matter confidential, he would continue to be paid as though he were a member of N Sync. Although the deal was lucrative, and his only real option, Lance was crushed at having to give up singing with his best friends. Nothing could replace that.
"Hey Lance! You wanna go see a movie with us?" JC shouted through the door of Lance's room in the hotel, jolting him back to reality.
"Umm, I'll pass, I'm kinda tired," Lance called back, trying his best to mask his emotions.
"Ok," JC yelled back, "We'll bring you back some dinner though."
"Thanks!" Lance replied. "But I won't be here when you get back," he thought, wiping his eyes and zipping shut his suitcase as he heard the guys getting on the elevator. He surveyed the room one last time, pausing at the window to watch his friends leave the hotel.
"Oh well, I'd always been the odd one out anyway," Lance rationalized, "Chris had Joey, and Justin had JC. I'm just the second N in N Sync. It's not like they NEED me. My voice is just filler. I don't have any solo's to speak of, and those few lines I do say alone, Joey can pick up. I am totally expendable." Sinking down on the bed, Lance waited a few minutes to make sure the guys were a safe distance away before he called a cab to take him to the airport.
"Lance! Hey Lance! We got you some dinner. It's a little squashed because Chris sat on it, but it'll still taste good." Justin explained, pounding on the door to what had been Lance's room. "Yo, Lance, let us in. We got you food. If you don't eat it soon, Joey's gonna eat it. You know how he gets."
JC emerged from the room he shared with Justin and motioned the guys in from the hall. "Management's here, and they want to talk to us. They have some more papers for us to sign and stuff. They said Lance already signed his. He must be sleeping now." Justin shrugged and left Lance's food outside his door.
As Justin entered his hotel room, he was handed the same packet of contract papers that the other guys were busy signing and handing back to Johnny Wright. As Justin began to look his contract over, Johnny cleared his throat.
"I have some rather unpleasant news for you guys." Johnny began as he collected contracts from JC, Joey and Chris, "The management team and I just found out that Lance is homosexual."
The guys shrugged nonchalantly, they'd known for a while that Lance was gay, and it hadn't bothered them in the slightest.
"How is that unpleasant news?" Chris asked. "We knew that already."
"It's unpleasant," Johnny paused, "In it's ramifications." Seeing confusion on everyone's faces, he continued, "Lance is no longer able to work with N Sync anymore. As of this afternoon, Lance was released from his contract and scheduled on a flight back to Orlando where he's going to be the bass for O-Town."
Anger filled the room as each guy started to protest their management's actions.
"If Lance is out of the group, then we all quit." JC bit off his words, trying to remain calm.
Holding up the contracts they had just signed, Johnny smirked, "Not unless you want to be sued."
Justin looked down at the unsigned papers in his hand, and he knew that what he said in these next few moments could make or break the rest of his career. "Well," he began after a moments hesitation, "Then I guess you should know that I'm gay too." He tossed the contract at Johnny's feet, "I guess that means I'm out of the group, huh."
Momentarily startled, the rest of the guys didn't know what to think.
"Are you really?" Joey asked the question on everyone's mind.
"Yeah, I really am." Justin said, "I didn't sign the contract, so I don't need to make up an excuse to get out of it. I honestly am gay. I'm not waiting for management to find out later on, only to kick me out too. I'm leaving on my own." He turned and walked out of the room into Joey and Chris', where he flopped down on the bed to think things over, the rest of the guys on his heels.
"Why did you do that?" JC asked sitting down next to Justin, patting his back.
"You should have seen the look on his face, Justin." Chris hooted, then seeing the somber look on his friend's face, turned serious.
"I did it for a couple reasons." Justin explained. "First, I did it because it's the truth, I am gay. And I don't want to have to worry about management finding out my "secret" and kicking me out the way they're doing to Lance."
"They wouldn't kick YOU out, Justin, you're the one everyone loves. Management knows that. Think of how much the popularity of N Sync would suffer if you left. They know you're not expendable the way they see the rest of us." Joey bluntly cut Justin off.
Holding up a hand, Justin continued, "I also did it, because I was banking on them not wanting me to leave. I'm trying to bargain with them. I'll agree to stay if Lance gets to come back. Get it?"
"That's risking a lot, Just," JC commented, a worried look forming on his face, "It's a great idea, I just hope it works."
"I know, Josh, I just can't stand the thought of doing this, being N Sync, without Lance. All because he's gay. I'm gay, and management's not punishing me for it. It's not fair." Justin sighed.
"Actually," Joey cut in, "We're only N Syc, or just Sync without Lance, actually."
"Dammit Joey, when are you going to learn that you can only use the word 'actually' once in a sentence?" Chris hit Joey across the side of the head, hoping to lighten the mood. His efforts at levity were beginning to work when Johnny burst through the door.
"Ok Justin, in light of your 'announcement', the management team and I have come up with what we think, is a creative solution. You're familiar with the group 98 Degrees, right?" Johnny's voice dripped with sarcasm. Seeing the nodding heads, he continued, "If you want to continue your singing career, Mr. Timberlake, it will have to be as their fifth member, because we will see to it that no record company signs you after this."
Five shocked faces looking back at him prompted Johnny to explain further. "We're letting you go Justin, just like we let Lance go. We don't want you as a member of N Sync after this stunt you pulled. We'd rather use your popularity to help another boy band reach N Sync's level of success, the same way we're using Lance. Lance was expendable and so are you."
Tears slowly made their way down Justin's face, dripping off his chin onto his white Nike t-shirt. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He was being blackmailed.
Thanks for reading my story! Let me know if you'd like me to write more! Email me at itookherkiss@hotmail.com!